A Bit Old For An Apprentice

Writers: Anaria, Suzee
Date Posted: 11th April 2011

Characters: Y'gel, Mardria
Description: Mardria has a request for Y'gel
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 1, day 22 of Turn 6

Y'gel

Mardria was over a candlemark early for her follow up with Y'gel. She
was wearing a nice new tunic, free of dirt or wrinkles, and there was
a hop in her step that had been missing for turns. Asking around, she
was directed to Y'gel's office, where she rapped lightly on the door
to catch the man's attention. On the recommendations of her Healer,
she'd been seeing a Mindhealer, and together they had come to the
conclusion that she really needed something other than Soravath to
care about in her life.

Y'gel was just finishing going over the Journeyman's findings in his
recent rounds. He was coming along very well and the Master thought he
would soon be ready to walk the tables. Another Senior Journeyman
taking shifts would lighten their loads a little. Not that he wasn't
already contributing a great deal. Still it was an additional person
to work into the schedule and give them a bit of relief.

"I think we'll start you taking lead on the afternoon shift soon
G'car." He patted the fellow's shoulder knowing the younger man would
understand his meaning.

He smiled when he heard the rap "Mardria!" he rose from his seat.
"You're a little early but no problem. Please..." he waived her toward
a chair.

Mardria smiled at Y'gel, taking the seat that he motioned to. "Yes, I
wanted to talk to you about something before we started taking a look
at Soravath," Mardria said. "I've been talking to the Healers, and a
Mindhealer as well and they seem to think that I need something to
keep myself busy with, you see."

"I would tend to agree with them. The longer you stay active the
better." He wasn't quite sure what she was angling toward.

"Well, one of the suggestions that they had for me was to pick up a
craft. And back before I Impressed I was an apprentice dragonhealer,"
Mardria explained. "I know that I am not as limber as I used to be,
although I have been trying to move around a bit more, but I was
wondering if it would be possible for me to apprentice again?"

He sat back in his chair. At first blush it sounded good of course but
she _was_ in her eighth decade. Dragonhealing could be physically
demanding at times. He decided to start with questions that would help
him get an idea of her capabilities. "How far were you into your
apprenticeship before you quit?"

"I was a Senior Apprentice, the only thing holding me back was the
lack of a dragon. And, uh, well, after I Impressed, I ended up taking
a weyrmate, and then having children, and never really got back into
it," Mardria explained. "I don't expect to be able to do all of the
things that the youngun's do, or to even officially be given rank in
the craft. I figure that there's something here that I can do, even if
it's just take inventory of stock..."

He nodded. "Alright, I tell you what," he leaned forward. "I can have
you shadow a Junior Journeyman for a few days. We need to see how much
you remember after all these turns."

Mardria's face brightened at the suggestion. "Can I also get a copy of
some of the Apprentice workbook... do they still have Apprentice
Workbooks?" Mardria asked, realizing that back when she was an
apprentice there weren't silly things like Thread to worry about, so
books were far more prevalent.

"Yes," he chuckled. "You can ask G'car to get you all set up with
whatever you need. Under the circumstances I don't expect you to stay
in the barracks of course. This is rather a unique situation so I
think we both know it won't be going 'by the book'. And," he said
pointing at her. "I expect you to follow the instructions of those
around you, even the most junior. This is an experiment and you are
very out of date."

"I understand fully," She paused, considering how to work her next
request. "Also... would it be possible to spend some time with
Angshel? When he washed Soravath the other morning, we had a
discussion about his past, and how he came to be here at the Weyr. I
really think he needs to know someone cares about him."

"So, multiple points of interest?" He chuckled. But he nodded to take
the sting out of the words. He knew some of the boy's history if not
all. He didn't view any of her requests negatively, to the contrary.
They were good for her and for Soravath. "Alright, once we've
established your skillset we can set you up to mentor him a bit in the
craft and what you do with the personal end of things is between the
two of you."

Mardria nodded, a grin forming on her face. "Thank you, Y'gel. It
means a lot to me that you are willing to let me have a chance. Don't
worry, I won't let you down!" With things in her future to look
forward to, Mardria found that she was more eager than she'd been in
turns.

"See that you don't!" he called after her.

Last updated on the April 28th 2011

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

A Bit Old For An Apprentice